


Alternate Ending Two

by lotioncryogenics



Series: Kora [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, Gen, M/M, Time Travel, klance child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-23 17:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12512728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotioncryogenics/pseuds/lotioncryogenics
Summary: An alternate ending in which Kora (spoiler) didn't die.Kora was never saved by Keith and Lance on Nayases.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last alternate ending; Enjoy!

“Okay, so if the stuff future me left with you is correct, then this should be enough to get you back.” Pidge informed.

“In my experience, Pidge is never wrong.” Kora chuckled.

“Damn straight.”

Kora hugged everyone goodbye, lingering on Keith and Lance the longest.

“I'm glad I made the trip. Now I have leverage on you two when I go back.”

“Uh, rude. Don't do that.” Lance said.

“She hasn't seen much, don't worry about it.”

“Oh, I've collected enough data from these guys too.” Kora assured them

“Shit,” Lance groaned.

“Promise to terrorize them for me.” Pidge held up her hand. Kora high fived her.

“Oh don't worry, I will.” Kora smirked.

“I hate you two,” Keith sighed.

“Nah, not possible.” Kora patted her dad on the back.

Kora climbed into the shuttle, Phoebea in her arms. She sighed and said, “I guess I'll see you guys in nineteen years.”

Everyone smiled and waved goodbye as Pidge close the door.

Kora closed her eyes tightly and a few seconds later the shuttle was jolting back and into the future.

It didn't take long for the beeping to stop and Kora to be where she needed to be.

She opened up the shuttle door and saw she was in the black lion's hangar.

Disoriented, it took Kaora a few moments to realize that Phoebea wasn't with her.

She clamped back into the shuttle and looked around, even under the seats.

In the midst of her panic she didn't realize someone coming up behind her.

She heard a click and a whir. “Put your hands up and slowly stand up and turn around.”

Kora gulped and did as she was told. She was met with a familiar face.

“Papa?”

Lance looked a little taken aback. “You’re- you're just a kid. What's your name?”

Kora was confused to say the least. “Uh, Kora.”

“That’s a cool name. My name is Lance.”

“Papa, it’s me.”

“Papa? Nah kid, I’m not a dad.”

Kora felt her heart sink to her shoes. 

“Hey, uh, follow me. I know some people who might be able to help.” he said, waving Kora along. Kora bit her lip and reluctantly followed him. 

Was she cursed to come home to a place of strangers?

Walking through the castle, Kora could barely recognize it. There were burn marks and scratches everywhere. It looked like many fights had happened here and none of them ended well. 

They turned the corner and Kora was hit with a blast of steam. It was coming from a hole in the wall. It looked like someone tried to patch it up with duct tape. Around the hole, Kora could recognize dried up blood.

“Pa- uh, Lance, what happened here?”

“It’s not important.” He responded. 

“Okay,” Kora thought. “Real helpful.”

They walked for a bit more and entered the main control room. Only Allura, Coran and Shiro were there.

“Hey guys,” Lance called. They all turned around, nodded to him and looked at Kora questioningly. 

“This is Kora. She crashed in the castle.”

“Oh, hello!” Allura greeted cheerily. “I am Princess Allura.”

“Coran, pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

“I’m Shiro, how did you get here?”

“It’s a long story.” She sighed.

“We definitely have the time.” Lance chuckled sadly.

“Is… is this everyone?” Kora dreaded to think what the answer was.

“Oh, no. We have a few more people here. Do you need them here?” Allura asked.

“Yes, I do. I don’t want to go through it a whole bunch of times.”

“Very well.” Coran turned to the monitor and typed out a message. A minute or so later, Pidge and Hunk were in the room, along with someone she didn’t recognize.

She looked to Allura. “Is this all?”

Allura looked down and nodded.

Kora’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh,” Where was her dad? She could only fear the worst.

“Well, I’m Kora. I was sent somewhere by a family friend to save my parents. I succeeded in a way and I tried to come home but I guess I did something wrong.”

“What planet are you from? You look pretty human.” Hunk noticed.

“Technically, I’m from Nayases.”

“An Agimen?” Coran gasped. “Impossible. Nayases was destroyed years ago.”

“This is coming from someone who's planet and people were destroyed eons ago.” Kora scoffed.

“How do you know that?” Allura crossed her arms and eyed her suspiciously.

“You said you were the princess of Altea.”

Shiro stood up. “She never said that. She said she was a princess but not of what.”

“Why don't you tell us who you really are.” Said the woman in the corner. It was the new one, the one Kora didn't recognize. 

Kora bit the inside of her lip. “I said that I'm Kora.”

“That doesn't mean anything to us.” Pidge rolled her eyes.

“It used to though.” Kora looked away.

“What the hell does that mean?” the new woman asked. She looked young but older than Kora. Maybe in her early twenties.

“Well, not to you. I don't know you.”

The woman looked to everyone.

“I am Kora. I was sent to the past to save my parents by my aunt Pidge. My parents are Keith Kogane and Lance McClain. I don't know why you don't know me. The time shuttle said I came to the right time and place.”

Lance turned away and left the room.

“What’s… What's wrong?” Kora asked.

“You said your parents are Keith and Lance right?” Allura confirmed.

Shiro walked over to Kora and put his hand on her shoulder. “Keith… He… He died almost seven months ago.”


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance comforts Kora

Kora threw her jacket at the wall, screaming.

Keith Kogane, her father, was dead and it was because of her.

\----

“Keith… He… He died almost seven months ago.”

Kora’s knees buckled. Tears started forming in her eyes. She tried to blink them back but they already started falling before she knew it.

“How?” she questioned between her pathetic sobs and sniffles.

Shiro bent down and sat on the floor with her. “Well, six and a half months ago, Allura was in labor and the castle was attacked. I stayed by her side. Without me they couldn't form Voltron so Lotor challenged them to the rights over a planet. If we won, Lotor would let the planet go and remove galra forces.” Shiro took his hand off her shoulder and paused.

“But that doesn’t explain how my dad is dead.” she managed to choke out.

“Lotor requested hand to hand combat from only one of the paladins. Keith took up the offer and…” Shiro stopped talking and that's when Kora noticed that he was almost crying too. Shiro didn’t continue.

“He was murdered.” Pidge squeaked.

Kora stood up on shaky legs and left.

\----

Kora was laying on the bed when someone knocked on her door.

“What.” She grunted.

“It’s me.” Kora recognized the voice as her papa.

“Come in, I guess.”

“Hey,”

“Hi,” She refused to look at Lance.

“Wanna know something?” Lance asked.

Kora shrugged. 

“Ya know that hole in the wall that was pouring steam? That was ‘cause of me.”

“What?”

“Well, Lotor came back a few months ago to challenge us again. He lost and I won.”

It took Kora a moment to realize what he meant. “You killed him?”

“Of course I did. With the very sword he used on Keith. I couldn't let him get away with Keith's murder without getting some payback.”

Kora widened her eyes and exhaled audibly. They were both silent for a second.

“So, Keith and I were really parents?”

“You still are because I’m still alive and kicking last I checked.”

“If you don't mind my asking, where we any good? Like were we good dads?”

“Yeah,” she smiled slightly and sat up. “When I was little you'd tell me all these stories before bed. Dad- Keith called me peanut.”

“What an adorable nickname.” Lance clapped his hands.

“Yeah, apparently it’s because I looked like the texture of a peanut when he found me. But then I turned out to be allergic. He still called me that. You sometimes joined in to tease me.”

“That seems kinda rude, but it also does sound like something I used to do.” He chuckled.

“Dad also used to be super protective. It got super annoying but now…” Kora started crying again. “Now that's all I want. I wish he could just come in here and tell me one more time to stop being reckless during battle or training. I wish he’d come in here and hug me and tell you off about pushing me too hard in fights. I would do anything right now just to say goodbye. Not the seventeen year old Keith I just left but my own dad.”

Lance leaned forward to hug Kora but his arms just went through her.

“Kora,” he started. “what the hell just happened?”

She looked up, tears down her face. “What?”

“I just tried to hug you and then my arms just went through you.”

Kora’s eyes widened. She wiped her face. “We need to talk to Coran.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Ya know when you see something you did and you used to be really proud of it and now you're like "This is shit."  
> That's what this is.  
> Actually my writing in general??


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter length consistency? I don't know her.

“It seems as though you’re ceasing to exist. If Lance and Keith never saved you that means you… uh….” Coran tried to explain.

“Died?” Kora helped.

“Perished on Nayases.” Coran corrected

“That’s not much better.” Lance rolled his eyes.

“Well, it's true.” Pidge crossed her arms.

“So what do we do?” Kora asked.

“We can't do anything.” Hunk sighed.

“There has to be something! We can't just let her… Ya know…” Lance trailed.

“You’re not even her father.” Shiro spoke up.

Lance gritted his teeth and walked up to Shiro. “What does that even matter? She was raised by a version of Keith and I. Keith was my family and she is too. I will not lose another.”

“Shiro,” Allura softly said. “Lance is right. Just because we…” Allura stopped and gulped. “He deserves to keep what he has left.”

“The princess is right.” Pidge agreed.

“We can do this.” Hunk encouraged.

\----

Kora ended up in a lab of Pidge’s for hours. Hunk, Pidge and Coran were running around and testing everything they could think of. Eventually they decided to hook Kora up to the castle to see if the lions or the castle had retained some information.

They were right.

A few moments after they stuck a few things on her head and in her arms, a video loaded on the screens of the castle.

It was Keith.

“I don't know how this exactly works but Coran told me to do it for record.” Keith sighed.

Halfway across the castle, Lance was sitting up in bed looking at the TV screen. 

Keith launched into the explanation. “Recently we had a mission on Nayases which collapsed. A few years ago, someone claiming to be mine and Lance's daughter came to us and said that we saved her upon collapse of the planet.”

“Keith?” Lance asked quietly. He never allowed the thought that he’d see Keith alive and moving again even if it was just a video.

“I never managed to find Kora and neither did Lance. I didn't want to remember that I failed her so I asked Pidge and Hunk to do this. I asked them to erase the memories of Kora so that I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I basically killed my daughter because I-” Keith started crying. 

“Because I failed to save her and her planet. Lance doesn't want me to do this. He thinks that by living those mistakes I’ll be able to learn from them. Except I'll never be able to fix or make up for those mistakes. Coran also doesn't want me to do this but he gave up arguing with me. He understands what it's like to lose a child I suppose.” Keith took a deep breath and wiped his face. 

“I am sorry Kora.” he said and the video ended.

“No!” Lance cried. “Come back!” he shook the TV and when it inevitably didn't follow his command, he kicked the TV.

\----

“I guess now we know why none of us remember you. I mean we would have forgotten anyway because of what happened of Nayases.” Hunk bit his lip.

“More like what didn't happen.” Pidge scoffed.

“I’m gonna go to my room and think for a bit.” Kora said.

Pidge, Hunk and Coran nodded and she walked away. 

She kept looking at her hands which seemed to be flickering like an old light bulb. She groaned and shoved her hands in her pockets.

She got to her room and flopped on the bed.

“Why is it always me who deals with the shitty stuff?” she thought. “I’m like Xander from that old vampire show papa likes.”

Kora was in her room for a while. She was on her bed, at her desk, just trying to think of ways to prevent the very erasure of her existence.

When she got up to simply pace the room, she fell.

She looked to her legs and they were barely there. They looked like someone had lower the opacity and they were flickering like her hands earlier.

“Help!” She called.

No one came to her aid.

After a minute, her throat was scratchy and her voice hoarse. In the time she had attempted to crawl to the door and pound on it but to no avail.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door.

“Kora?” Lance asked through the door. “You okay?”

“Help me Papa!”

\----

“Fuck,” Lance panicked and tried to force the door open.

He tried to ram his body into the door until his sides were sore. 

He tried pass codes on the door but nothing worked.

“Screw this,” Lance gave and whipped out his Bayard. It transformed into a gun and he shot the door open.

He opened the door and saw Kora on the floor reaching out for him. He dropped to his knees. “Kora?” his voice squeaked.

“Bye, papa.” she whispered and her form was gone completely.

A tear fell from Lance’s eye and then he asked aloud. “What the hell am I doing in here?”

He looked at the Bayard in his hands and the door, destroyed behind him.

“What the hell did I do?” Lance shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Man, I should ask Pidge to give me a sobriety test.”

Lance couldn't remember what had just happened.

•••

Kora had an inescapable fate. To live and be loved unconditionally but to die unknown.

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter: comfort
> 
> If you liked it, leave a kudos!  
> If you disliked it, tell me why in the comments! I'm open to constructive criticism all the time.
> 
> To keep up with the progress of this series, my writing, or LotionCryogenics stuff in general, follow me on tumblr or Instagram. They are both LotionCryogenics.


End file.
